The Hounds of Baskerville
The Hounds of Baskerville is the second episode of the second series of the BBC's Television series Sherlock which will be aired on the 8th of January 2012. Summary A Hound from Hell. A terrified young man. Sherlock's most famous case. But is a monster really stalking Dartmoor? Something terrible has happened to Henry Knight. Sherlock and John investigate the truth about the monstrous creature which apparently killed their client's father. But what seems like fantasy in Baker Street is a very different prospect in the ultra-secret army base that looms over Dartmoor... Benedict Cumberbatch returns as Sherlock Holmes, with Martin Freeman as John Watson, Mark Gatiss as Mycroft, Rupert Graves as Inspector Lestrade, Una Stubbs as Mrs Hudson, Andrew Scott as Moriarty, Louise Brealey as Molly Hooper and Russell Tovey as Henry Knight. Plot Sherlock Holmes is behaving erratically due to boredom and pines for a case to work upon. After ridiculing an e-mail from a child who asks him to find her "luminous rabbit" named Bluebell, he is visited by Henry Knight (Russell Tovey), a man whose father was ripped apart by a gigantic hound on Dartmoor twenty years earlier. Henry, then a small child, had fled in terror only to be found in a bewildered state the next morning. After years of therapy, Henry has visited the hollow where the killing occurred, only for his terrors to arise once again, prompting his request for help from Sherlock Holmes. Although initially dismissive, Sherlock suddenly becomes interested after being struck by Knight's use of the archaic word "hound". The scene in which Sherlock clambered to the top of a Dartmoor mound reminded critics of Caspar David Friedrich's painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog.1 Sherlock and John interview the Dartmoor locals at the inn and find that the hound has become a local legend with a guide who takes people on treks around the moor. The pair then visit the nearby Baskerville military research base. Sherlock gains access using an ID card taken from his brother Mycroft (Mark Gatiss). They are introduced to various officials in the base: commander Major Barrymore (Simon Paisley Day), genetic scientist Dr Stapleton (Amelia Bullmore) and Dr Frankland (Clive Mantle). Sherlock deduces that Dr Stapleton is the mother of the little child who contacted him about Bluebell. When their credentials finally cause a security alert, Dr Frankland vouches Sherlock's identity as Mycroft, despite knowing Sherlock's real identity. Frankland intimates that he was a friend of Henry's father and displays a considerable concern about his well-being. Later on that night, Sherlock and John visit Henry Knight, who tells them about the words "Liberty" and "In" he sees in his dreams. Sherlock convinces Henry to visit the moor in the hope of confronting the beast. Along the way, John gets distracted and follows his own path where he notices what seems to be a Morse-code signal. Meanwhile, Sherlock and Henry arrive at the scene where they both feel an sense of abject terror, and the trio leaves hurriedly. That night, at the inn, Sherlock is still visibly shaken and he confesses that he actually saw the hound. John pursues the Morse-like signals, which turn out to be unrelated headlight flashes. On his way back, Sherlock asks John to interview Henry's therapist, Dr Louise Mortimer (Sasha Behar). During the interview, Dr Frankland drops by and blows John's cover, revealing him to be Sherlock's assistant, which causes Mortimer to leave. Meanwhile, in his house Henry Knight appears to hallucinate about the hound. In the morning, Sherlock suggests that "hound" might not be a name per se, but an acronym. The pair run into Inspector Lestrade (Rupert Graves) who was sent to Dartmoor by Mycroft to keep an eye on Sherlock. They interrogate the innkeepers about a copious order for meat which John has spotted, which struck him as odd for a vegetarian restaurant. The proprietors own up to keeping a dog on the moor to boost the tourist trade, but assure they have had it killed because it was uncontrollable. This satisfies Lestrade but not Sherlock who assures that the dog he saw was monstrous. Placing a call to Mycroft, Sherlock gains access to Baskerville for 24 hours despite Major Barrymore's anger. In the lower levels of the facility. John investigates the genetics labs where he observes various cages for test animals and a few leaking gas pipes in a confined chamber. As he leaves the chamber, he is stunned by a glaring light and a screeching siren. Trying to leave the lab, he finds his passcard access denied. He hears a growling sound and immediately assumes that it is the hound. Locking himself in one of the empty cages, he calls Sherlock who asks him to describe what he sees. Rendered speechless from horror, John is eventually rescued by Sherlock. They confront Dr Stapleton, who admits that genetic mutation experiments were conducted on animals. Sherlock now believes that the hound was a manifestation of a deliriant drug contained in Henry Knight's sugar bowl, but analysis of the sugar reveals nothing. Using the method of loci ("memory palace"), Sherlock reaches the conclusion that the words "Liberty' and 'In' seen by Henry in his dreams stand for Liberty, Indiana. Taking the geneticist into their confidence, Sherlock and John try to access the confidential files in the Baskerville database, only to be stumped by a CIA database password, only accessible by Major Barrymore. After observing the commander's office, Sherlock deduces Barrymore's password and accesses the database. "H.O.U.N.D" is revealed to be a secret military project aimed at creating a chemical weapon that triggers violent hallucinations in the brain. Looking at a photograph of the scientists involved in the project, Sherlock realises that Dr Frankland was involved with the project. At that moment, John receives a phone call from Dr Mortimer who tells him that a rampaging Henry broke into her room with a pistol and then ran away. Assuming that Henry went to the hollow where his father died, Sherlock summons Lestrade and they rush to the scene. They find a delirious Henry Knight, about to commit suicide. Sherlock talks him out of it, explaining that the hound was just a hallucination and that his father was attacked by Frankland, wearing a gas mask with red-coloured lenses and a jersey with "Hound. Liberty, In" written on it. Henry's memories were subdued due to the trauma but as he began to remember the incident, he had to be silenced as well. As another murder would arouse suspicion, Frankland decided that driving Henry insane and therefore casting doubt upon his story would be a better option. With pressure pads installed around the hollow which released a dose of the chemical compound, each time Henry attempted to face his fears he would be pushed further into madness. As Henry calms down, they all hear the howling of a hound, which had not been killed but simply abandoned by the innkeepers and now appears at the edge of the hollow. In a fit of terror, Sherlock sees the image of Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott) descending upon him. As he grapples with the phantom criminal, it turns into Dr Frankland who desperately shouts for them to kill the advancing hound. The hound leaps upon the party, only to be shot down by Lestrade and John. Henry flies into a vengeful rage and attempts to throttle Frankland but the doctor runs away. After a brief chase, he runs into the Baskerville mine field and blows himself up. The next day, Sherlock and John are having coffee, discussing the case. John is confused as to why he saw the hound in the lab despite not having inhaled the gas from the Moor. Sherlock tries to explain that the pipes in the lab must have been leaking the gas, but John correctly guesses that Sherlock was the one who locked him in the lab as an experiment. In the last scene of the episode, Mycroft orders the release of Moriarty from a government facility in which Moriarty has written Sherlock's name all over the walls. Cast *Sherlock Holmes ... Benedict Cumberbatch *Dr John Watson ... Martin Freeman *Mrs Hudson ... Una Stubbs *DI Lestrade ... Rupert Graves *Mycroft Holmes ... Mark Gatiss *Henry Knight ... Russell Tovey *Dr Stapleton ... Amelia Bullmore *Dr Frankland ... Clive Mantle *Major Barrymore ... Simon Paisley Day *Dr Mortimer ... Sasha Behar *Corporal Lyons ... Will Sharpe *Fletcher ... Stephen Wight *Gary ... Gordon Kennedy *Billy ... Kevin Trainor *Grace ... Rosalind Knight *Young Henry ... Sam Jones *Presenter ... Chipo Chung Category:Episodes